Last Man Out

 

Master Gunnery Sergeant Juan José Valdez, the last U.S. Marine to leave Vietnam, passed away on February 15, 2026, from pneumonia.

He was the last to board the final helicopter leaving the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon on April 30, 1975. Valdez, who was born in San Antonio, Tx in 1937, ensured all Marines under his command were safe before boarding the final CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter. He is the recipient of the Navy. Commendation and Navy Achievement Medals

Somethings Happening Here

"There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
A-telling me I got to beware"

 

We're reliving the '60s. In America it was a time of lawlessness, shootings, mass killings, thievery, widespread corruption and denouncing the President. It was all over a war that our government perpetuated over the will of the people. It's happening again, the government perpetuating many things over the will of the people. 

 

Those lines above come from a protest song from the '60s. “For What It’s Worth” is one of the most widely known protest songs of the 1960s. Recorded by Buffalo Springfield as a single, it was eventually released in 1967 on their self-titled album. It has transcended its origin story to become one of pop’s most-covered protest songs – a sort of “We Shall Overcome” of its time, its references to police, guns and paranoia remaining continually relevant even to this day. 

Buffalo Springfield was the house band for LA’s famous Whiskey A Go Go Club during the time of the LA riots, which led Stephen Stills to pen the song.

“For What It’s Worth” was penned solely by Stills in response to the Sunset Strip curfew riots in Los Angeles in 1966. It all started in the mid-1960s when hippies and young people associated with rock and roll culture would frequently gather on the famous street in West Hollywood. The commercial merchants on Sunset Boulevard decided that the element of young people on the street every night was not conducive to commercial enterprise. When bunch of kids got together on a street corner and said we aren’t moving, the local government put in place curfew and anti-loitering laws to stop people from congregating at the behest of local businesses.

 

This tension between the free-spirited culture and local government came to a head in November and December 1966 when protesters clashed with police, particularly on the night of November 12 when a local radio station announced there would be a protest over the closing of Pandora’s Box, a popular nightclub for young people. Roughly 1,000 people showed up to protest. Three busloads of Los Angeles police showed up, who looked very much like storm troopers. 

 

According to reports, a fight broke out for reasons having nothing to do with the curfew; a car carrying a group of Marines was bumped by another vehicle. Egged on by that fight, the protesters (some of whom carried placards that read “We’re Your Children! Don’t Destroy Us”) trashed a city bus and threw bottles and rocks at storefronts. 

  

The LAPD instigated a 10 p.m. curfew for anyone under 18. 

 

 

The riot was really four different things intertwined, including the war and the absurdity of what was happening on the Strip. 

 

Despite having a reputation as being an anti-war song, as it was also written during the Vietnam War, Stills said that “For What It’s Worth” was mostly written in response to the Sunset Strip riots. 

 

“It was really four different things intertwined, including the war and the absurdity of what was happening on the Strip,” Stills explained in an archived interview, according to the Los Angeles Times. “But I knew I had to skedaddle and headed back to Topanga, where I wrote my song in about 15 minutes. For me, there was no riot. It was basically a cop dance. … Riot is a ridiculous name. It was a funeral for Pandora’s Box. But it looked like a revolution.” 

  

The beginning of the song is a study in understatement. An electric guitar plays two notes, slowly repeated, with tremolo. The drums set up a quiet pulse-like beat. An acoustic guitar enters, strumming two chords, then beginning a quiet riff that is a definition of laid-back L.A. funk. (Audio clip – 80K.) Finally Steve Stills’ voice enters, in a quiet, conversational tone. (Audio clip – 64K.) 

 

[Verse 1]
There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
A-telling me I got to beware

[Chorus]
I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down

[Verse 2]
There's battle lines being drawn
And nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Are gettin' so much resistance from behind

[Chorus]
It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down

[Verse 3]
What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and a-carryin' signs
Mostly say, "Hooray for our side" 

[Chorus]
It's time we stopped
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down

[Verse 4]
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life, it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away

[Chorus]
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Now, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down

While watching the news today, this song from my past came to mind and has not left. Once again we have riots in LA, and beginning to start in other cities. We have battle lines being drawn between Trump supporters and Trump non-supporters; Republicans and Democrats; those who want peace and those who want to take peace. When will we learn that nobody's right if everybody's wrong?

We teach our young people to "speak their mind" but we forget to teach them to consider those around them before they speak. Our "freedom of speech" does not give us the right to trespass, steal or destroy other people's property. Our "freedom of speech" does not give us the right to bully or demean any other human.  

Nearly 50 years later, and in very different times, we still haven't learned from our mistakes of the 1960s.  

 

Imagine By John Lennon

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No Hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people livin' for today
Ah, ah, ah-ah

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothin' to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people livin' life in peace
Yoo, hoo, oo-oo

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharin' all the world
Yoo, hoo, oo-oo

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one

  

 

Woodstock

 

 

On August 15, 1969, what was meant to be just “3 Days of Peace & Music” at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, NY, unfolded into something much bigger. Nearly half a million people showed up, through rain, mud, delays—and the music didn’t stop.

Here’s the complete lineup by day 

 

Friday & Saturday (Aug 15–16):

Richie Havens, Swami Satchidananda (opening invocation), Sweetwater, Bert Sommer, Tim Hardin, Ravi Shankar, Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Quill, Country Joe McDonald, Santana, John Sebastian (unscheduled), Keef Hartley Band, The Incredible String Band, Canned Heat, Mountain, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin & the Kozmic Blues Band, Sly & the Family Stone, The Who, Jefferson Airplane.

 

Sunday & Monday morning (Aug 17–18):

Joe Cocker & the Grease Band, Country Joe & the Fish, Ten Years After, The Band, Johnny Winter, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sha Na Na, Jimi Hendrix (closing act Monday morning).

 

What a historic roll call.

 

Its full name was The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, its message was peace and love.  

On the third day of the festival, just before Joe Cocker's early afternoon set, Max Yasgur, the humble farmer who lent his land for the occasion  addressed the crowd:

 

"I'm a farmer. I don't know how to speak to twenty people at one time, let alone a crowd like this. But I think you people have proven something to the world — not only to the Town of Bethel, or Sullivan County, or New York State; you've proven something to the world. This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place. We have had no idea that there would be this size group, and because of that you've had quite a few inconveniences as far as water, food, and so forth. Your producers have done a mammoth job to see that you're taken care of... they'd enjoy a vote of thanks. But above that, the important thing that you've proven to the world is that a half a million kids — and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are — a half million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and I – God bless you for it!"

 

 ... Max Yasgur, said this on stage the last day of Woodstock as America was sending Kids to Vietnam to die.  

 

Martin Scorsese down in front inside the fence returning the peace sign to Max.

 

August 15, 1969, Richie Havens opens the Woodstock Festival.

 

 

The Woodstock festival had been scheduled to begin on Friday afternoon. Sweetwater was the planned first act. The audience had been streaming onto the festival site for days, in numbers far exceeding expectations, and traffic had already clogged all roads leading to the festival for dozens of miles. Sweetwater and their equipment were stuck in Liberty, normally a 20-minute drive away, but now accessible only by helicopter. Richie and his bandmates, Deano Williams and Daniel Ben Zebulon, had been flown to the festival site in a small helicopter that landed behind the stage. Tim Hardin was also on-site, along with a few other performers. As the start time came and went, Michael Lang pleaded with Hardin to take the stage and open the festival. Hardin adamantly refused, reminding Lang that he was supposed to go on fifth. Lang appealed to Richie, who finally, reluctantly agreed, telling the festival promoter that he would owe him big-time if anyone threw any bottles at him. Richie’s bass player, Eric Oxendine, was still stuck in traffic, but Richie agreed to perform without him.

 

At approximately 5:15 on Friday afternoon, Richie, Deano, and Daniel walked onto the still unfinished stage, sat down, and began to play their 20-minute set. They opened with “From the Prison” from Richie’s Something Else Again album, with a bit of the Youngbloods’ “Get Together” thrown in for good measure. He followed with “I’m a Stranger Here,” which was one of the demos he recorded before signing with Verve Folkways. He concluded his set with two songs from his debut album, “High Flyin’ Bird” and “I Can’t Make It Anymore.” Still with no act ready to follow Richie, Michael Lang convinced him to do an encore. Richie attempted to play “With a Little Help from My Friends,” the Beatles cover from his newly released 1983 album.

 

He obviously had trouble remembering the lyrics, so he asked the audience to sing along. Later in the festival, Joe Cocker would also perform the song, creating one of the most memorable moments of Woodstock. Richie then redeemed himself with a second encore, a performance of “Handsome Johnny” from Mixed Bag. He returned for a third encore at Michael Lang’s insistence, a medley of the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” from his 1983 album and “Hey Jude.”

 

Finally, exhausted and at a loss to remember any additional songs, Richie Havens began playing a guitar groove. The word “freedom” came to his mind, and he began singing. He added a few lines from the traditional song, “Motherless Child,” and a new song, an anthem for the Woodstock festival, was created live on stage. The song, "Freedom" was immortalized in the Oscar-winning 1970 documentary film, Woodstock, and the film’s soundtrack album and became a staple of Richie’s performances the rest of his career. Richie told the story many times about having to go to the theater and watch the movie to learn the song he had extemporaneously written on the Woodstock stage. Woodstock was a defining moment for Richie Havens, and he would reference his performance at the festival for the rest of his career.

 

Guitarist Paul “Deano” Williams accompanied Richie throughout his career, also contributing to a 2000 Pete Farrow album. Daniel Ben Zebulon is still active as a musician and has played percussion with Andy Gibb, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, and the Bee Gees. Over his career, Richie Havens released 24 albums, including the well-received Stonehenge (1970), The Great Blind Degree (1971), and Alarm Clock (1971) on his own label and a number of albums on various labels. He would release his final album, Nobody Left to Crown, in 2008. He was a tireless live performer who thrived on personal contact with his fans. In addition to his music, Richie Havens devoted his life to educating young people about ecological issues. He co-founded the Northwind Undersea Institute, an oceanographic children’s museum in the Bronx, and helped create The Natural Guard, an organization described as “a way of helping kids learn that they can have a hands-on role in affecting the environment.” Havens died on April 22, 2013, at the age of 72, and his ashes were spread on the site of his beloved Woodstock festival, here at Bethel Woods, at a memorial service attended by many of his friends, family, and fans. 

 

Woodstock Master of Ceremonies Chip Monck 

 

In 1969 he lit the concert that would define his career and make him a public figure. Monck was hired to plan and build the staging and lighting for the Woodstock Music & Art Fair's "Aquarian Exposition" music festival. Paid $7,000 for ten weeks of work, much of his plan had to be scrapped when the promoters were not allowed to use the original location in Wallkill, New York. The stage roof that was constructed in the shorter time available was not able to support the lighting that had been rented, which wound up sitting unused underneath the stage. The only light on the stage was from spotlights.

Just before the concert started, Monck was drafted as the master of ceremonies when Michael Lang noticed that they had forgotten to hire one. He can be heard (and seen) in recordings of Woodstock making the stage announcements, including requests to "stay off the towers" and the warning about the "brown acid". 

 

“To get back to the warning that I’ve received, you might take it with however many grains of salt you wish, that the brown acid that is circulating around us is not specifically too good. It's suggested that you do stay away from that. Of course it’s your own trip, so be my guest. But please be advised that there’s a warning on that one, okay?” ~ Chip Monck

 

What happened once the last note was played?

 

When Jimi Hendrix finished his set on Monday morning, the crowd was a fraction of its former size. Exhausted and dirty, attendees slowly began to leave. The festival grounds were a wreck—littered with trash, clothing, tents, and broken equipment.

 

Clean-up took weeks. Farmers complained about ruined fields, and the organizers faced lawsuits and debt. Some said the event was an environmental disaster. But those who had been there knew they had experienced something unforgettable.

 

The town of Bethel tried to move on. It wasn’t until years later that Woodstock was truly embraced as a cultural milestone. In time, the site was preserved and turned into a historic park and museum to honor the festival's legacy.

 

Though the fields eventually emptied, the spirit of Woodstock lived on. It lingered in the memories of those who were there—and echoed through the generations that followed.

 

Why does Woodstock still matter more than 50 years later?

 

Woodstock didn’t just define a weekend—it defined a generation. Over 50 years later, it remains a cultural reference point, not only for music festivals but for youth activism, idealism, and peaceful resistance. It showed the power of gathering, of people coming together with shared values and making something greater than themselves.

 

Since 1969, many festivals have tried to recapture its spirit—some succeeding more than others. Woodstock ‘94 and Woodstock ‘99 attempted to honor the original, but only ‘94 captured a fraction of the original peace-loving energy. The violence and commercialism of ‘99 served as a harsh reminder that Woodstock couldn’t be recreated—it was a unique moment in time.

 

The myth of Woodstock has grown: it’s been immortalized in documentaries, books, songs, and academic studies. Critics argue that the reality was messier than the nostalgia suggests—there were overdoses, logistical failures, and muddy misery. But even those who were there often describe it as life-changing, a moment when they felt the world might actually shift toward peace and compassion. 

 

Woodstock 1969 is remembered not because it was perfect, but because it was real. It captured the heart of a generation seeking truth, unity, and freedom through the raw power of sound. 

 

Did you know Woodstock 1969 drew an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 people — and no one even knows the exact number?

 

What began as a ticketed event for around 50,000 quickly spiraled into something far bigger. As waves of people flooded Bethel, New York, fences came down and ticket control collapsed. The organizers simply couldn’t keep count. Highways were jammed for miles. Cars were abandoned. Thousands walked the rest of the way just to reach the music.

 

With gates overwhelmed and the festival effectively becoming free, attendance numbers became guesswork. Some estimates say 400,000. Others push it closer to half a million. What’s certain is this: it became one of the largest peaceful gatherings in music history. 

 

Rainstorms turned the fields into mud. Food ran low. The logistics were stretched beyond limits. Yet instead of chaos, unity prevailed.

 

Woodstock wasn’t measured by ticket stubs. It was measured by the magnitude of the moment — a crowd so massive it became legend.

 

 

Relevant Links:

https://www.woodstock.com/  

 

Woodstock History 

 

Woodstock Stories 

The Answers We Seek are Still Blowwin in the Wind

 

I was thinking today about how life has changed since I graduated High School and how it hasn't. Much can be told of the '60s from the popular music of that time. Songs like "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield. Released in 1967, the words of that song still apply to what is happening in the United States today (1/18/26). "Blowin in the Wind" by Bob Dylan could have been written yesterday, it's still that relevant to what is happening today. 

In the '60s when I was 16, 17, and 18, I didn't really pay attention to what the words of the songs were. I just listen to it because my peers listened to it. But, as I listen today, I hear in the songs of the '60s, the things I saw on the 6:00 o'clock news tonight. Civil rights are being violated by armed government militias, the US is threatening war on countries, there are riots in some of our largest cities against civil rights and marches against war and government policies, when will we ever learn? I think The answers we seek are still blowing in the wind.

Society today hasn't changed much from the '60s.  I grew up first on the South Side of Chicago, then in Oaklawn, about 10 miles south; then on to New Lenox, about another 10 miles south of Chicago. I still remember going to the large Sears store and Montgomery Ward store in Downtown Chicago where there were signs over the restroom doors; "Whites Only" and "colored". Separate but equal is what our government (and white America) called it. From what I remember, most of "Downtown Chicago" was "Whites Only". Things are supposed to be different now, anyone can go anywhere, but just because you "can" go somewhere, it doesn't mean you will be welcome. Chicago along with most other big cities is still segregated. There are areas where whites live, areas where blacks live, areas for Latinos, Italians, Irish, Puerto Recons, etc... Still today, you are only really welcome in your designated area. I always lived in the white side of town, went to schools that were "Whites Only", went to churches that were all white. Sometimes, it seemed to me that we were still fighting the Civil War. 

I live in Greenville North Carolina now, society is still segregated; not by race now, but by economic status. Greenville is broken up into rich, middle and poor communities. Again, just because you can cross community boundaries, it doesn't mean you will be welcome. What is really sad is that although races can intermix within their economic communities, race still seems to be a factor among whites. I still don't understand how our rich white forefathers who owned many slaves, could write in a Declaration of Independence that all men are free and equal when they, themselves did not believe it. They were good at talking the talk, but they did not walk the walk.  

Where ever you are now, look around. Do you see freedom and equality? Or do you see segregation and lack of respect. What our forefathers did not understand was that before we can be truly free, we must have respect for those around us. And before we can have equality, we must respect the race, religious beliefs and economic status of those around us.   

"How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind."  

My Generation

It's depressing & disturbing how so many of those protest songs from 50 years ago still ring true.

"Many have passed away, and those who are still here are called

"the elderly.""

We were born in the 40s-50s-60s.

We grew up in the 50's-60's-70's

We studied in the 60s-70s-80s.

We were together in the 70s-80s-90s.

We got married or not and discovered the world in the 70s-80s-90s.

Adventuring into the 80s - 90s

We're settling in to the 2000s.

We became wiser in 2010s.

And we’re going strong into 2020 and beyond.

Turns out we went through EIGHT different decades...

TWO different centuries...

TWO different millennials...

We've gone from phone with operator for long distance calls, pay booths, video calls worldwide.

We’ve gone from slides to YouTube, vinyls to online music, handwritten letters to emails and Whats App.

Live games on the radio, black and white TV, color TV, then HD 3D TV.

We went to the video store and now watching Netflix.

We've known the first computers, punch cards, disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.

We wore shorts all through our childhood, then trousers, ep pants or mini-skirts, Oxfords, Clarks, Palestinian scarves, jumpsuits, and blue jeans.

We avoided childhood paralysis, meningitis, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19.

We've done roller skating, roller skating, tricycle, bicycle, moped, gasoline or diesel and now we drive hybrids or electric.

We played with the little ones

horses and checkers, ostrich and marbles, 1000 threshold and monopoly, now there's candy crush on our smartphones

And we read... much

And our schoolmates religion was not a subject...

We used to drink tap water and lemonade in glass bottles, and the vegetables on our plate were always fresh, today we get meals delivered

Yes, we have been through a lot but what a beautiful life we have had!

They might describe us as “ex-annuals”; people who were born in this 50s world, who had an analog childhood and digital adulthood.

We should add the Biological Revolution that we have witnessed. In 1960, biology was very descriptive. We have witnessed the event of Molecular Biology: the molecules of Life have been discovered: DNA, RNA etc. When you see everything that has come from it: gene therapy, gene fingerprints, and others the progress is considerable.

We kind of have "seen it all"!

Our generation has literally lived and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life.

This is our generation that has literally adapted to "CHANGE".

A big congratulations to all the members of a very special generation, which will be UNIQUE.. "

 

 

What defines my generation?

Although I wasn't there, I would have to say

WOODSTOCK 1969! 

 

 

  

 

 

 

On the third day of the festival, just before Joe Cocker's early afternoon set, Max Yasgur, the humble farmer who lent his land for the occasion  addressed the crowd at Woodstock:

 

"I'm a farmer. I don't know how to speak to twenty people at one time, let alone a crowd like this. But I think you people have proven something to the world — not only to the Town of Bethel, or Sullivan County, or New York State; you've proven something to the world. This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place. We have had no idea that there would be this size group, and because of that you've had quite a few inconveniences as far as water, food, and so forth. Your producers have done a mammoth job to see that you're taken care of... they'd enjoy a vote of thanks. But above that, the important thing that you've proven to the world is that a half a million kids — and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are — a half million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and I – God bless you for it!"

 

 ... Max Yasgur, said this on stage the last day of Woodstock as America was sending Kids to Vietnam to die.